


Cathouse

by Joram (Bethia)



Category: Garrison's Gorillas
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-18
Updated: 2010-05-18
Packaged: 2017-10-09 13:26:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/87968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bethia/pseuds/Joram
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A mission to Poland has unexpected results for Garrison and Actor</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cathouse

** _Cat-house _ ** _by Joram_

“So what’s going on then, Warden?”  Goniff asked as Garrison came back down into the cellar of their current safehouse.

Garrison sighed and sat down at the rickety wooden table, running a hand tiredly over his face and flexing the tight muscles of his shoulders before looking up at the four cons waiting expectantly.  “I just talked to my contact here and our mark hasn’t arrived in the city yet, though he is expected sometime tonight, or tomorrow at the latest.”

“So what are we going to do?  Just sit here and wait for him to turn up?”  Casino asked tartly, already preparing to argue with any course of action that the lieutenant might propose.

Garrison shot him a half‑hearted glare but didn’t bother saying anything.  The safecracker had been spoiling for a fight for days, even before they had been given this latest mission, and Garrison was determined for once that he wouldn’t let the man’s bitching get to him.  He had problems enough already without adding Casino’s inevitable sulks to them.

“You are, yes,”  Garrison told them firmly.

“While you do what?”  Actor asked quietly, thoughtfully pouring him a cup of coffee from the pot that their hosts above kept permanently filled, if only with ersatz.

Garrison gave the conman a quick smile and warmed his frozen hands on the cup gratefully.  It was November and, even though the England they had left two days earlier had been covered with a sprinkling of snow, neither he nor any of the cons had expected it to be so bitterly cold here in Poland.  The last time he had experienced such unrelenting cold had been during the last bitter winter he spent in Russia as a small child.

“Lieutenant?”  Actor prompted and Garrison realised that his thoughts had been wandering.

“I’ll be going undercover,” he told them.  “We know that Juskiewicz has two regular haunts here in the city and that he’ll go to one of them as soon as he arrives.  We’ve got one of them covered already but we had to pull one of out agents out of the other one in a hurry.  I’ll go in as his replacement.”

“Who is this Juskie bloke anyway?”  Goniff asked curiously.

“Stanislaw Juskiewicz,”  Garrison corrected with a smile.  “He’s a Russian but he’s been living in Poland since before the Revolution. He’s one of our key men in the area.”

“So why are we watching him if he’s on our side?”  Casino demanded.

“Up until a few months ago his information was good but recently...” Garrison shrugged.  “Intelligence needs to know whether he’s deliberately turned or if his cover has been blown and the Germans are feeding him false information.  There’s also some question as to whether we’re the only ones he’s been reporting to or whether he is also a Soviet agent.”

“Is that likely?”  Actor queried. 

“On the surface, no,”  Garrison confirmed.  “He’s a playboy with expensive tastes and habits – habits that wouldn’t endear him to the Bolsheviks but his name has been increasingly cropping up in places it shouldn’t have.  Whether he’s a German agent or a Soviet one doesn’t really matter, our orders are to watch him and see who he meets.  And until he turns up, we’re there to listen in to everyone else.  The regular clientele includes a number of high-ranking German officers, as well as some influential businessmen.”

“So where are these places?”   Chief asked from his customary perch at the top of the stairs.

Garrison took a mouthful of coffee and tried to decide how much the four of them needed to know.  “They’re both very discreet gentlemen’s clubs.  In other words, brothels,” he finally admitted with a half smile and waited for the inevitable response.  Nor were his expectations disappointed as both Casino  and Goniff began squawking sarcastically.  “All right, guys, pipe down,” he ordered after a minute.  “I’m there to work, nothing else.”

“So what do you want us to do?”

Garrison looked up as Chief came down to join the others.  “What I want is for the three of you to stay put and stay out of trouble until Juskiewicz arrives.”

“And me?”  Actor asked as Garrison paused.

Garrison worried at his lip for a moment and then met the conman’s eyes.  “I want you in there, too.  During working hours anyway.”

The Italian smiled widely as he caught Garrison’s drift.  “A client?” he asked hopefully.

Garrison hesitated a moment before nodding.  “Yeah.  What better way to get a respectable German businessman into a brothel?”

“Hey, why him?”  Casino protested hotly.  “Why should he have all the fun?”

“You need class for this job,”  Actor told him loftily.

“Oh yeah?”  Goniff challenged.  The conman just looked at him.

“You don’t speak the language, either of you, so quit complaining.  Besides, Actor’s right about this one,”  Garrison told them, acknowledging Actor’s smug thank you with an absent nod.  “This is one of the most exclusive places in town.”

“Expensive?”

“Put it like this,”  Garrison joked,  “if this guy doesn’t turn up in the next few days, I’ll be sending you out to rob a bank to pay for it.”

“Warden,”  Goniff chided.  “You’re starting to think like us!”

Garrison smiled briefly and then looked at Actor.  “This is a con, Actor.  A job, not fun,” he warned firmly, trying to find a tactful way of breaking the rest of the news to the conman.  He hoped Actor wouldn’t over‑react.  The man was a consummate professional but Garrison wasn’t too sure just where his prejudices lay.  “You’re my backup on this,” he insisted.

Actor frowned.  The lieutenant knew his capabilities well enough and yet Garrison was acting strangely, almost as though he expected Actor to mess this one up.  “There will be someone else inside with you though?” he checked.

Garrison nodded.  “Farrar,” he confirmed and watched Actor’s expression lighten.  He was still disconcerted sometimes by the way the four of them, especially Actor, seemed to worry about him. “He’s there as a member of the club.  His partner, whom we had to pull out, was a part of the staff.  That’ll be my cover.”

“The major?”  Goniff echoed in surprise.

“Major Anthony Farrar, Viscount Farrar,”  Actor explained blithely, watching the Warden closely.

“Exactly,”  Garrison acknowledged, unsurprised by Actor’s knowledge.  He had known that after the Eberbach debacle last year Actor would make it his business to find out everything he could about all the people involved.

“A Limey lord?”  Casino and Chief exchanged a look of astonishment.

“Blimey, Warden, you ain’t half got some important friends!”  Goniff added, looking speculatively at him.

“Yeah, well, don’t let it bother you, most of my friends these days are crooks,”  Garrison quipped, reading the look.  The thief gave him a sarcastic smile in response.

“So if you’ve got backup inside, what’s the problem then?”   Actor asked, determined to find out what was bothering Garrison about the job.  The last time the lieutenant had been this cagey was before Major Richards had set them  up as decoys in Italy.

Garrison sighed and looked at Actor but refused to meet the other man’s eyes.  “The place is on Ul Matejki,”  he said finally, willing Actor to understand.

The conman stared at him for a moment, understanding all too well.  That particular area of the city was well‑known in certain circles.  “You’re crazy,”  he breathed incredulously.  “If you think I’m going to let you go in there...”

“What is it?”  Goniff asked.

“Someone has got to do it,”  Garrison told the conman firmly, both of them ignoring Goniff’s interruption.  “And I’m it.”

“It’s too dangerous...”  Actor began.

Garrison shook his head, cutting the other man off.  “I know what I’m doing, Actor.  Why do you think I want you in there as well?”  he asked, half amused.

“Will someone tell me what’s going on?”  Casino interrupted.  “What’s special about this place?”

“Nothing much except...”

“Actor,”  Garrison growled warningly but the Italian ignored him.

“...that it’s a male cat‑house,”  Actor finished, challengingly.  He knew from the way that Garrison had been hedging that he hadn’t wanted the others to know, that he had been relying on Actor’s discretion and faith in him to keep it quiet.  Normally the conman was willing, even eager, to plot with Garrison, glad of the advantage it gave him over the others  and for the thrill of being the lieutenant’s confidant but this time Garrison had gone too far.  If Actor was to stop him from going through with this crazy idea he needed the other three on his side.

“He’s right, you’re crazy, man!”  Casino exclaimed harshly.

“Stupid,”  Goniff added.  “Warden, that’s...” he trailed off, shaking his head, unable to think of anything else to say.

“For God’s sake,”  Garrison said in exasperation.  “It’s just another con.  I know what I’m doing.”

“Do you, Lieutenant?”  Actor asked quietly.  “Have you any idea what you’re getting yourself into?”

“I’m not totally naive,”  Garrison said sharply.  “So just drop it.  I’m going in and that’s it!”

“Lieutenant...”

“Enough, Actor.”  Garrison cut him off abruptly, real anger colouring his voice.  “Just back me up on this.”

The conman took a breath, ready to argue further but then caught the other man’s look and knew that there was no point.  They had all learnt over the last couple of years, even Actor who got away with more than the others, that Garrison could be pushed only so far and then he dug his heels in.

“Alright, Warden,” he conceded reluctantly.  “But, why you?”

“And not you?”  Garrison finished for him, relieved that Actor had backed down for once.  “Because they need someone who speaks Russian and German fluently. And,” he continued hastily as he saw the protest gathering in Actor’s face, “there’s also an age limit,” he tried to conclude tactfully. 

“Hah! Too old, babe,”  Casino cackled, with a grin at Actor’s chagrined expression.

“I didn’t know you spoke Russian,” Actor said, not dignifying Casino’s crack with an answer.  He had no doubt in his mind that he could have pulled off the role but he was forced to admit that Garrison had been right.  With the best will in the world, he would undoubtedly be considerably older than any of the men working there.  It was a bitter pill to swallow but and it forced Actor to remember just how much younger than he Garrison really was.  It was something Actor tended to forget.

Garrison shrugged.  “There are a lot of things you don’t know about me.”

For a man in his line of work it was a scary thought.

“Why Russian?”  Chief asked curiously.

Garrison shrugged again.  “It’s a very nationalistic house,” he explained dryly.  “They employ only Russians or Poles even though most of the clientele these days must be German.”

“Strange,”  Actor commented.  “Does anyone else know you’ll be in there?  The resistance?”

The lieutenant shook his head.  “No.  If Juskiewicz has turned we don’t want to risk tipping him off.  We don’t know how many, if any, are working with Juskiewicz and even if they’re not, he’s certainly  got contacts within the local group.”

“So the owner won’t know anything about this?”

Garrison gave a short laugh.  “I sure as hell hope not!” he exclaimed wryly.  “Juskiewicz owns them both.  Don’t say it,” he warned as the others stared at him.  “I know it’s dangerous...”

“But you’re going to do it anyway,”  Goniff finished for him.

“But why do you need to be inside?”  Chief asked.  “Why can’t Casino just go through his safe?”

“That’s already been tried and it’s clean.”

“So how do you propose to find out?”  Actor queried.

“Intelligence has fed him some information.  If he’s a double, then he’s going to have to pass it onto his contacts  here within a couple of days if it’s to be of any use to them,”  Garrison explained.

Actor nodded.  “So when are you going in?”

“This afternoon.”

“That’s quick.  Are you sure your cover’s set?”

“Yeah,”  Garrison said confidently.  “Ever since Farrar’s partner was pulled, he’s been setting this up.”  At the conman’s look of surprise, Garrison continued,  “It’s a cover we’ve both used before.”

“What if you hadn’t got the job?”  Casino wanted to know.

“How many trustworthy native Russian‑speaking agents stupid enough to volunteer for this mission do you think Allied Intelligence could come up with at the drop of a hat?”  he  countered sarcastically.  “The background works for all two of us.  Trust me on that.  Despite what you all seem to think, I want to come out of this job with my skin intact.  So, gentlemen,” he concluded abruptly, looking at them each in turn,  “is there anything else you want to say before I get this show on the road?”

 * * *

Actor paused in the doorway and looked around the room, his casual demeanour disguising the thoroughness of his search as it had on the previous evening.  As Garrison had said, it was all terribly discreet and to the uninitiated it looked exactly what it publicly purported to be – a private club for gentlemen to meet and play a few hands of cards.  The only thing that gave it away was the number of rather pretty young men dressed in what was obviously the uniform of the house - tight black trousers, tucked into knee-high boots and the high-necked loose belted tunic.  There were maybe a couple of dozen other men in the room and although they were all dressed in evening clothes, Actor recognised at least two he had seen the day before in German uniform.  The murmur of conversation seemed to be predominantly in German but here and there Actor could pick out bits of Russian.  It wasn’t a language he was completely fluent in but he certainly knew enough to get by in most circumstances.

He sauntered towards the bar and ordered a vodka, taking refuge behind the glass as he continued to scan the room, looking for Garrison.  He spotted Farrar first, leaning artfully over the back of a sofa chatting to a couple of portly gentlemen in evening dress, look decidedly attractive.  He was a big man, maybe a shade taller than Actor’s own height and broad to match but for all that he moved with a surprising grace and delicacy that belied his build.  Actor had only even seen the Englishman in uniform before and had to take a second look just to make sure that it really was him but the unmistakable cropped red‑blond hair and green eyes that widened momentarily in recognition as Farrar caught his scrutiny confirmed it.  Actor had to admit that, under different circumstances, he could have happily whiled away a few hours with the major.

Circumstances, however, were not different and, after tilting his glass to Farrar slightly, Actor continued to anxiously study the gathered crowd for Garrison but couldn’t see him in the main room.  That meant he was either in one of the side rooms or upstairs already.  And that was something Actor didn’t even want to think about.  Garrison might have thought he knew what he was getting himself into but Actor rather doubted if he really did.  His own experiences led him to hope that Garrison would never find out.  The previous evening Garrison had skilfully avoided going anywhere private, at least until Actor finally drifted away with the last few stragglers an hour or two shy of dawn, when it became obvious that Juskiewicz was not going to show up.  It was not a feat that Garrison was likely to be able to pull off again without anyone noticing but the thought of the younger man with anyone but him clawed at Actor unpleasantly.

Involved in his thoughts, Actor wasn’t aware of the presence at his side until a hand touched his arm.  His start of surprise masked by years of long practice, the Italian turned to look at the man at his side, hoping that the gleam of admiration and lust in his eyes wasn’t taken as anything but a con, a front put on for the occasion.  He had always thought that Garrison was an attractive man but, dressed as he was, Actor nudged that assessment up to gorgeous.  But it wasn’t just the costume, flattering though it undoubtedly was.  Garrison was enjoying himself, the conman realised abruptly, suddenly recognising the thoroughly self‑aware air emanating from him, the nerves of the previous evening gone.  It was the same feeling he got when a con, especially a difficult one, was going really well.  It was an air that the Warden seemed to carry a lot lately.  If Actor hadn’t known better, he would  have said that Garrison was a professional.  Though whether he meant a professional hooker or a professional conman he wasn’t sure.  At that particular moment either description fitted.

“Everything alright?”  The low voiced query broke his concentration and Actor realised that he had been staring at Garrison fixedly.

“Fine,” he reassured the lieutenant hastily, avoiding the curious look by leading him towards an empty table in a relatively unpopulated corner of the room.  Garrison could read him all too accurately sometimes and this was one particular thought that Actor didn’t want the younger man to read.  “They are all behaving themselves,” he added and was rewarded with one of Garrison’s rueful smiles.

“For how long though?”  Garrison asked plaintively, knowing his men all too well.  If they managed to stay out of trouble for another day it would be a minor miracle.  He shifted his chair until he was close enough to reach out and touch the other man easily.  To anyone else in the room it would look as though they were murmuring sweet nothings to each other.

Actor laughed softly, knowing that normally he was as guilty as the others, more so usually.  Having spent so much of his life in Europe, he had acquaintances all over the continent.  “As long as you’re here they won’t stray,” he told Garrison surely and then, seeing Garrison raise a sceptical brow, added  “They still think you’re crazy to have come here.  It was all I could do to stop them from gatecrashing in here.”

“Just make sure that you do,”  Garrison insisted.  “The last thing I need is to have to bail them out of trouble.  This job is hard enough already.”

Actor was surprised by the admission but relieved that Garrison wasn’t so blindly cocksure of himself as he had appeared at first.  Knowing that the job was dangerous would make him more careful, less liable, perhaps, to take so many of the stupid risks that he often took on a mission.  “I’m glad you realise that,” he replied sharply.  “Because I still think you’re in over your head.  But,”  he continued as Garrison glared at him, “you’re not going to listen to me, so let’s just drop it.  Are sign of Juskiewicz yet?”

Garrison shook his head slightly, glad that Actor wasn’t going to keep on nagging.  He was fully aware of the dangers of his charade and, if absolutely necessary, was prepared to pay the price as well but that wasn’t something he could tell any of them, Actor least of all.  Garrison had always tried not to play favourites but he had to admit that losing Actor’s regard would hurt, more so than any of the other cons.  Somewhere along the line, the four of them had ceased to be just faceless canon‑fodder and had become friends and Actor was fast becoming something rather more.

“Not yet,”  Garrison answered, dragging his mind back to the business at hand.  “But there are several men in here tonight that might be worth checking in on to see if we can pick up anything else useful.” He gestured discreetly towards a man just entering one of the smaller side parlours that were set up for card players.

Actor nodded in understanding.  “And you?” he checked.

Garrison grimaced slightly.  “I’ll try my charms on some of the German officers in here.  Don’t worry,” he added dryly,  “Farrar and I will watch each other’s backs.”

Actor wasn’t reassured but said nothing.  Everything had already been said several times without much use.  “Alright,” he conceded.  “But I’ll check back with you in an hour.”

Garrison nodded a faint acknowledgement and got to his feet, one hand tightening on the Italian’s shoulder momentarily before drifting off towards the other end of the room.

Actor watched the saunter appreciatively for a moment, glad of the opportunity to openly look at Garrison for once without worrying about giving himself away to the others.  There were some perks at least to this job, much though he hated most of it.  His eyes narrowed speculatively as he saw Garrison brush against Farrar casually and stop for a brief whispered conversation before they separated and moved on to their respective targets.  Although the checks Actor had run on him last year had proved without much doubt that Farrar was exactly who and what he said he was, Actor was still uneasy about him and would have been happier if this mission hadn’t included him.  The very fact that he and Garrison were obviously friends of long standing, close friends, didn’t make it any easier. Rather the opposite.  Despite having a vast acquaintanceship, Actor distrusted friendship, especially when it was someone else’s friend he was relying on.  It worried him because he knew from experience that Garrison would put his life on the line without thought if a friend asked him to and he didn’t know just where that line was for Farrar.

With a faint sigh, Actor drained his glass and got to his feet, pushing thoughts of the viscount to the back of his mind and made his way into the card room.  The only way to get Garrison out of this over‑priced cat‑house quickly, he thought sourly, was to dig up some dirt of Juskiewicz.  He sighed again and then let his working persona take over as he approached a likely looking table.

“Room for another hand, gentlemen ?”

Almost an hour later the conman rose from his second table considerably richer but badly frustrated.  Just as Garrison had said, no‑one had seemed to have anything on their mind except cards and scurrilous society gossip which, fascinating though it was, was totally useless unless they wanted to set up a blackmail scam.  Perhaps Garrison had had better luck, he thought as he strolled back into the main room.  Catching his eye, Actor watched as Garrison deftly excused himself from the party of officers that he and a couple of others were entertaining and moved away to join another group.  For a brief moment Actor was confused and then realised that Farrar was part of the group and that Garrison was discretely shepherding him away from them, one hand resting intimately low on the Englishman’s back.

Suddenly intent, Actor watched the two of them together, the unforced casualness and ease between them  suddenly assuming a far deeper meaning than he had previously suspected.  He was abruptly and painfully certain that there was more between Garrison and Farrar than mere friendship, no matter how long they had known each other.  He hadn’t recognised the signs before, hadn’t wanted to but now that he saw it, it was obvious.  They were lovers.

Actor felt his guts twist at the thought and had to swallow a quite irrational hatred for Farrar.  He liked the man, at least what he had seen of him and, given the opportunity, they could probably become friends of a sort but for the fact that Farrar had what Actor wanted.  Garrison.  Ever since he realised that he had begun to lust after the army officer, Actor had consoled himself with the idea that Garrison was straight.  Unobtainable.  That he had no interest in men at all.  Actor was used to being irresistible and to discover that not only was Garrison attracted to men but involved with one already was a blow to his ego as well as his heart.

With an increasingly jealous eye he waited until Farrar drifted away and then moved forward towards Garrison, taking his arm and hustling him towards one of the side rooms none too gently,

He had rarely seen the conman look so grim before.

“You’re involved with Farrar, aren’t you?”  Actor hadn’t meant to be so blunt but the sight of the two men together had banished any thoughts of subtlety.  He wasn’t surprised, therefore, when Garrison looked at him blankly, open‑mouthed.

“What?!”

“You’re involved with Farrar,”  Actor repeated, not even bothering to make it a question this time.

Garrison, surprised and a little shocked by the question, just stared at the conman and wondered what he could say, strangely reluctant to lie outright.  “What makes you say that?” he prevaricated.

The conman looked at him chidingly.  “Because watching you in here, it’s obvious from the way you react to each other.”

“This is a brothel.  It’s supposed to be obvious!”  Garrison exclaimed, glad for the out that Actor had unwittingly given him but the Italian’s expression didn’t alter.

“Really?”  he drawled sarcastically.

“It’s a con job,”  Garrison insisted angrily.

“It looked pretty damn real to me.”

“You’re not the only actor around here, you know,” Garrison snapped, reacting badly to the older man’s unreasoning anger.

“You’re not that good a conman,”  Actor sneered.

“Oh for God’s sake...”  Garrison turned away sharply but was brought up short as Actor grabbed his arm.

“So are you?”  Actor persisted, his fingers biting painfully into Garrison’s biceps.

Garrison pulled away.  “That’s none of your goddamn business!”  he exclaimed, too furious to worry about denials.

“So you are his lover then,”  Actor accused, glaring at him, his fears confirmed.  “No wonder you wanted this job.  Right up your street,” he added nastily, not believing it but only wanting to hurt.

“Bastard!”  Garrison growled, white‑faced with fury.  He lashed out with his fist and watched with satisfaction as the blow sent the bigger man sprawling on the floor.

Actor raised a hand to wipe away the trickle of blood that seeped from his split lip and met Garrison’s look, glare for glare.  His first instinct was to belt the other man back but some small shred of sense warned him against it.  Garrison could  be a vicious fighter when he lost control.  Instead he rolled to his feet and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

He was conscious of the sudden silence and curious stares as he pushed by but ignored them, wanting only to get out of that place as soon as possible.  Barely pausing as he left the house, he began to stride down the street, uncaring which direction he  took so long as it was away.  Away from Garrison, from Farrar.  From the unwanted knowledge and, if he were truthful, from his own sense of inadequacy.  And jealousy.

It was an uncomfortable feeling.  An unfamiliar one, too.  The very nature of his profession meant that his relationships with women were  of necessity very brief and light.  Fun while they lasted but, looking back, there was only a handful whose faces he even remembered, the rest were just vague names and even vaguer memories.  And the few men were little more than one night stands.  A forbidden guilty pleasure born of youthful experiments but whose appeal had waned considerably since his first sojourn in prison.  It wasn’t so much the sex itself that put him off but the memories of prison that being that close to another man evoked.  His time inside was something Actor preferred not to remember.

Which made his sudden burst of jealousy all the more disturbing.  He had known for a long time now that he wanted Craig Garrison in his bed but had resigned himself to the fact that he would never have him.  To know that Farrar had him was galling but it was only after watching them laughing together so easily that he had become so angry.  He was jealous not so much of the physical relationship, though that played its part, but of the closeness, the obvious affection, between them.  It had made him realise that his feelings for Garrison were far more involved than he had thought.

He had the horrible, sneaking suspicion that he might even be in love with the younger man.  He paused to examine that thought, instinct even now taking him into the shadows of a doorway.  He was in love with Garrison.  It was the only explanation that made any kind of sense of what he was feeling.  The jumbled mixture of lust, respect and liking that he felt whenever he was around Garrison.  The way that he followed Garrison’s orders when he wouldn’t give that respect to any other man living.  Even the way that he was often content just to stay at the manor and be in the same room while Garrison worked and the other cons went out to the pub of an evening was indicative of the depth of his feelings.  And it was the knowledge that while he had been making do with such small pleasures, Garrison had been giving another man the affection and company Actor desperately wanted for himself that had sparked his anger and jealously.

How the hell was he supposed to work with Garrison now, knowing that he had given himself away?  The other Gorillas he could hide it from perhaps but Garrison...  The two of them were alike in so many ways that Garrison couldn’t not have realised by now just why Actor had been so angry.  The conman only hoped that Garrison’s temper had cooled enough for them to talk. For him to apologise so that they could work to mend the fences between them.  Disheartening though it was, the knowledge that Garrison and Farrar were lovers gave him a spark of hope for himself.  The war might have thrown the two officers together again but if the major’s mission schedule was anything like theirs, then the  amount of time he and Garrison could be spending together was severely limited.  And Actor saw Garrison almost daily, sharing the danger and excitement of the missions as well as the quiet times at the mansion.  The conman had great faith in the value of proximity.  There was hope yet ‑ if only he ever got up the courage  to approach Garrison.

That resolution made, Actor turned back the way he had come and then froze mid-step as it suddenly hit him.  He had walked out on Garrison, left him in that place with no backup.  He had done the one thing that he had always sworn he wouldn’t do: he had run out on a con but more importantly he had left a friend in the lurch.  Even though Garrison had driven him to it he still felt guilty.

 He hastened his pace until he was almost running, worry gnawing at him as images of the trouble Garrison could be in flashed through his mind.  As a rule the lieutenant wasn’t foolhardy ‑ though he often took far more risks on a mission than Actor was comfortable with ‑ but there was no telling what he would do with anger ruling his actions.  And even if he hadn’t done something stupid just for the hell of it, Actor had still left him there with no real protection.  Sure Farrar was there but the last Actor had seen of him, it looked as though he were set up for the night.  Garrison was fair game for any man there and if he wanted to maintain his cover and finish the mission, which neither hell nor high water had ever induced him to give up willingly before, there was no way he could refuse to go with a man.

Even at a distance Actor knew that the fair-haired man Farrar was taking liberties with wasn’t Garrison.

Trying not to show his rising worry, Actor started forward, his seemingly aimless stroll taking him round most of the main room.  By the time he reached the bar he was certain that Garrison was neither there nor in the public card rooms.  That left only the private rooms, whose doors were all firmly shut, or upstairs.  He wasn’t sure which was worse.  If Garrison had taken a man up to his room he might have managed to string things out until rescue turned up but if they had gone into one of the rooms downstairs, used primarily for quick encounters when a client didn’t want to stay long, then it was probably too late already.  Why the hell had he let his jealousy get the better of him?

Perhaps Farrar had seen where Garrison had gone, Actor thought a little desperately, feeling fear beginning to clutch at his throat.  He made his way towards the Englishman, hoping that he wasn’t still occupied with the blond.  Actor was quite willing to make a scene, he enjoyed doing so, but not over  Farrar.  If he did, he would probably be asked to leave and that wouldn’t help Garrison.  His luck, however, was in.  Farrar was alone, lounging casually against the wall, waiting for the conman to approach him.

“Well?”  The interrogative was hard and Actor, after one quick look at his set face, realised that Farrar was angry.  Almost involuntarily, he felt his own hackles rising but ruthlessly quashed the emotion.  This was neither the time nor the place for them to fall out.

“Have you seen Garrison?”  The Italian asked softly, leaning his shoulder against the wall beside the other man.

Farrar shot him a glare.  “You mean since you slammed out of here?” he asked pointedly.  Actor concealed a wince and just nodded.  Farrar couldn’t make him feel any worse about it than he already did.  “He’s in the end room,” the Englishman gestured with his head at the room nearest the bar.  “They went in there about five minutes before you got back.”

Actor took a sharp breath.  That meant Garrison had only been alone with this man for a little over ten minutes.  Perhaps everything would be alright.  He started to move away but was stopped by a hand on his arm.

“If he is hurt, I will personally make sure you are crucified for this,”  Farrar warned him, the look on his face plainly indicating that he meant it.

Actor didn’t begrudge him his anger.  If their positions had been reversed he would have felt the same way.  Garrison had been counting on him and he had screwed  up.  It had happened before but never when the stakes were quite this high or this personal.  He paused outside the door for a moment, listening for anything that might give him a clue what he would be walking in on but could hear nothing above the hum of sound from the other patrons.  He took a deep breath and reached for the door handle, mentally preparing himself for the mother of all scenes and then jumped in surprise as it moved under his hand and the door opened, leaving him face to face with Garrison.

They stared at each other wordlessly for a heartbeat and then Garrison pulled the door shut behind him before Actor even had a chance to look in.

“This room is already occupied,”  Garrison told him in a hard voice.  “I told you I could handle everything,” he added sharply as he brushed past, making his ways towards the bar.

Actor stared after him, disturbed by his words and the shuttered look on the younger man’s face.  Just what the hell had gone on in there?  Realising that he was becoming conspicuous standing there, he moved over to the table they had occupied earlier in the evening and sat down, his gaze still fixed on Garrison’s rigid back.  As Actor watched, debating whether to approach, he saw Farrar drift up, one hand casually resting on Garrison’s back.  A little of the tension seemed to go out of Garrison as Farrar murmured something to him and then the redhead collected his drink and moved off, acknowledging the watching Italian with a bare softening of his attitude.  So the major hadn’t forgiven him, Actor mused, faintly surprised that that bothered him a little but the thought came to an abrupt halt as he realised that Garrison was approaching him.

“May I?”  Garrison asked in German, gesturing with his glass to the other chair.  Actor nodded and waited until he was settled before turning to really look at him, relieved that, although his  expression was still blank, his face had lost that awful closed look it had worn a few minutes ago.

“What happened in there?”  Actor asked quietly, not sure that he really wanted to know.

“It doesn’t matter,”  Garrison said shortly, his eyes on his glass.

“Yes it does,”  the Italian contradicted flatly, his hand going out almost involuntarily to turn Garrison’s face towards him.  Garrison jerked his chin away as though the touch had burnt him but turned to face the other man nonetheless, allowing their eyes to meet.  Actor read the familiar anger directed at him and felt some of his tense anxiety ease.  If Garrison was angry things couldn’t be too bad.

“Oh, don’t worry, nothing much happened.  No thanks to you,”  Garrison  added tartly.  “I told you I could handle it alone if I had to.”  He downed his vodka in one gulp.

Actor winced at the accusation.  “Warden...”  he began but Garrison cut him off with the shake of a head.

“Don’t,” he said quietly and placed the glass back on the table very precisely.  “Let’s just leave it.  We’ve still got a job to do.”

“But...”  Actor began again, determined to try and heal the breach he could feel widening between them before it was too late but he didn’t know what to say.  Ironic really, he thought, disgustedly, considering that he made his living with words but now that he needed them desperately, he couldn’t find any.  “I’m sorry,” he finally said.

“Sorry?”  Garrison repeated sarcastically.  “I should damn well hope so.  You walked out on the job!  So help me, if you ever do that to me again...”  he left the threat hanging, knowing that Actor would understand.  In all honesty, much of his anger was directed at himself.  True, Actor had walked out on him but Garrison had thrown the punch, driving him to it.  If their roles had been reversed he would probably have done the same thing.  If anyone was to blame, it was him.  He had been rattled by the conman’s question about his relationship with Farrar and had reacted badly, lashing out when a few words of denial would have smoothed everything over, for the time being at least.  He supposed he shouldn’t have been surprised, the conman had trained himself to observe everything that went on around him but he hadn’t honestly expected Actor to challenge him with it in quite such a way.  He was usually more subtle, more devious, than that.

“Alright,”  Actor conceded, knowing that even if this had been a suitable place for such a conversation, which being public it wasn’t, that Garrison had no intention of discussing anything personal.  He recognised the signs all too well.  “So, did you learn anything useful?” he asked, deliberately steering the conversation towards less emotionally charged channels. 

Garrison relaxed a little more, glad to concentrate on the mission frustrating though it was.  “Nothing...”  He broke off abruptly, his gaze suddenly fixed on the three men who had just arrived.  “That’s him!”  he exclaimed quietly.  “The one on the left.  That’s Juskiewicz.”

The other two were equally as ordinary, albeit somewhat younger but for the fact that, although neither were in uniform, something shrieked Gestapo to Actor.

“What do you want to do?”  Actor asked softly.

“Nothing yet.  Farrar’s got it covered.”  At Actor’s look, Garrison continued, “Juskiewicz’s office is bugged.  If they go upstairs, we’ll follow and listen in.  There’s a storeroom next door where Farrar’s partner set up the equipment.”

They sat quietly for a minute, anxiously willing the three men to go upstairs but Juskiewicz seemed content to dawdle, greeting men left and right.

“Move, damn you,”  Garrison muttered under his breath.

Actor, hearing him, realised that the lieutenant was far more on edge than he appeared even to the Italian.  He breathed a sigh of relief as the three finally started up the stairs and then caught his breath sharply as a warm hand dropped on his leg and started to move up his thigh.  His gaze shot to Garrison’s face and he received a second jolt as the blond man smiled at him seductively.

“Ready to go upstairs?”  Garrison murmured, his German suddenly far more accented than before.

Almost unconsciously, Actor licked at suddenly dry lips.  “Lead on,” he answered huskily, taking the hand that Garrison  held out to him, wondering whether the younger man knew the effect that simple clasp and the smile was having on his body.  He hoped not.  If Garrison had meant it, if the seduction had been real, then it would have been different but as things stood between them now, he preferred not to make any more of a fool of himself than he already had.

They crossed the room, hand in hand, heading, with a seemingly single‑minded purpose, towards the staircase and the bedrooms above.  Garrison mentally blessed Juskiewicz’s perverse morality that ensured there was no voyeurism in the rooms and that there was no time limit on any assignation.  It meant that no‑one would know that the two of them weren’t headed for a night of passion.

They reached the top of the first flight of stairs and turned left into a long, plushly carpeted L‑shaped corridor just in time to see the three men disappear into a room three quarters of the way along.

“Storeroom’s the second door from the end,”  Garrison whispered, towing Actor noiselessly towards it, only dropping the other man’s hand once they reached the room.

Actor tried the handle and frowned.  “Locked,”  he murmured.  “Key?”

Garrison shook his head slightly and grinned, producing a small black case from a hitherto concealed belt pouch.  Actor looked on in surprise as he then proceeded to pick the lock fairly expertly.  Garrison read the look and answered the unspoken question as soon as they had slipped  inside and pulled the door closed behind them.  “Casino’s been giving me lessons. I got sick of being locked in places.”

“You never cease to amaze me, Warden,”  Actor told him, not totally ironically, flicking on the dim light.  “Is there anything else you haven’t yet remembered to mention?” he asked rhetorically.  Garrison just smiled again, refusing to answer, and pulled the listening equipment from its hiding place behind  a  stack of dusty chairs, watching as the conman competently set it up.  It looked like he wasn’t the only one who had been taking lessons from Casino.

“All ready,”  Actor said after a moment and handed the headphones to Garrison.

Garrison put them on and listened carefully, straining to hear the low voiced conversation but the three men were merely discussing the brothel. 

His mouth quirked in a sudden grin as one of the Germans mentioned Farrar though he didn’t think the aristocrat would appreciate the description of him.  Seeing the grin, Actor touched him on the shoulder.

Garrison turned and pulled the headphone away from one ear, considering for a moment and then, with a shrug and mental apology to Farrar, said,  “Farrar’s got an admirer.  Seems that one of the Germans isn’t too fussed whether he keeps company with the staff or his fellow club-members and just expressed an interest in spending an hour with, I quote, the red‑head built like a brick out‑house.”

The conman didn’t bother to restrain his smile either.  It was, after all, a fairly accurate, if somewhat slighting, summation.

Garrison’s wandering mind was brought swiftly back to duty as the conversation abruptly changed tack.  This was it, the proof they needed.  He listened intently, cursing the placement of the bug, as the muffled voices faded in and out of hearing range.  Eventually the discussion ended and the three men left the room, heading back towards the stairs and the pleasures that awaited them below.

Garrison waited until the last footstep had faded away before standing, stretching muscles tight from crouching, hands automatically packing away the surveillance gear as his mind went over what he had heard.

“Well?”  Actor probed but Garrison ignored him, instead cracking open the door and peering out, making sure the corridor was deserted before gesturing the conman out and smoothly locking the door behind him.

“Upstairs,” he murmured, leading the Italian towards another, less grand staircase about halfway along the corridor, pausing momentarily to scrutinise the lock on Juskiewicz’s door.

The second floor was identical to the first, save for a large window in the end wall and the lack of  a second staircase.  Garrison’s room was around the corner and Actor reckoned that they must be above the card room.  Like the rest of the brothel, the room was big, comfortably, even opulently, furnished, a door to one side opening onto a small dressing room and the luxury of a private bathroom.  Actor seated himself in one of the armchairs, scrupulously avoiding looking at the big bed and waited for Garrison to speak.

“Well?” he asked again.

“Well, he’s certainly working for the Germans.  Told them exactly what we fed him.”

 “But?”  Actor probed, recognising, with a sinking feeling, the familiar expression on Garrison’s face.  “Come on, Warden, give.”

Garrison smiled ruefully at the resigned tone.  “They were talking about a list Juskiewicz has got.  As far as I could make out, it names other German agents working for the Allies.”

“And you want to see it,”  the conman said certainly.  Garrison nodded.  “Why do you always do this to us?”  Actor continued but without any real condemnation in his voice.  If it was a list of double agents, the opportunity to get hold of it was too good to pass up, regardless of the added danger.  “Where is it?”

“There’s a wall safe in the office.  It’s got to be in there.”

“We’ll need Casino then.”

Garrison nodded again.  “There’s a back staircase at the far end of the corridor, used to be the servant’s entrance.  If you go all the way down you’ll end up in the basement and there’s a door that leads up into the street at the back of the house.  You should be able to get out without being seen fairly easily,” he instructed.

“Do you want them all or just Casino?”

Garrison considered for a moment.  “Bring them all then we can get out of here as soon as it’s done.”

“And Farrar?”  Actor asked reluctantly.

“I’ll let him know.  Just get back here as soon as you can.”

“Alright,”  Actor agreed, peering around the edge of the door carefully to make sure the coast was clear.  “Oh, and Warden, no sightseeing while I’m gone,” he added with a twinkle, though more than half in earnest knowing as he did Garrison’s penchant for getting into trouble.

A move that was leading towards something entirely else between himself and Actor.

Actor.  Now that he was finally alone, Garrison had the chance to think about what had happened during the evening.  He had been conscious for some time now of his growing attraction to the Italian conman but had put it firmly out of his mind, believing that he had no chance where the self‑confessed lady‑killer was concerned but their quarrel earlier had made him think again.

Actor’s reaction to Farrar had put him in mind of the way he had acted towards the Duchess after the mission when Actor had realised that Garrison knew her far better than one short shared mission should have allowed.  Then Garrison had put the faint hostility down to the fact that she had seemingly rejected Actor in his favour.  Now, however, he wasn’t so sure.  Right from the start of their current mission, Garrison had got the impression that Actor would have been far happier if Farrar hadn’t been involved and the accusations the conman had flung at him had  screamed jealousy.

It seemed that the attraction was mutual.  The question was, what the hell should he do about it?  Could they really afford to get involved?  If it had been just sex then maybe but for his part, he knew that it was more than mere sexual attraction he felt, that he was coming perilously close to being in love with the other man and he suspected that Actor wanted more, too.  The simple option was to go on as they were, denying what he felt and allowing Actor to continue thinking that he and Farrar were lovers.  It had been true in the past even if it  hadn’t been for a long time now.

But did he really want that?  Garrison admitted to himself that he had been lonely since he and Farrar had parted company.  They were still very close, the friendship between them stretching back to early childhood, and there had been a night or two together since but the special sense of belonging had gone.  It was that Garrison missed almost more than anything.  But even if Actor wanted the same thing, could he really allow it to happen?  The other Gorillas would inevitably find out and, while their knowing didn’t particularly bother him on a personal level, he was still their commander and it couldn’t not affect their working life.  They would be thinking about it every time he sent Actor out on a mission.  So would he.  Could he really face ordering his lover out into danger, on a mission that might get him killed?  Garrison sighed.  That was one question he could perhaps answer.  He had already faced that situation with Farrar and they had both survived it.

But what of after the war?  Actor would get his parole and leave the army but he was career military like all of his family.  His family.  There was another sticking point.  The general, Garrison didn’t give a damn about ‑ he and his father had barely spoken in fifteen years ‑ but what of the people who had raised him, his foster family?  They knew of his preferences ‑ after all, he and Alexis had virtually been raised with Farrar ‑ but to settle down with Actor?  Much as he wanted to, the obstacles seemed insurmountable.

Was it really worth the risk?

Garrison sighed again as the thoughts continued to chase round in his head fruitlessly and glanced idly at his watch, realising with shock that he had been lost in thought for more than half an hour.  He forced his mind back to the mission.  If he didn’t get a move on, the Gorillas would arrive before he had a chance to warn Farrar.  If all went well they could be out of Krakow by morning, hopefully long before Juskiewicz noticed that two of his people had suddenly disappeared.  Once he discovered that, it would only be a matter of time before Juskiewicz realised that the list was missing and his own cover was blown.  It would have been better if he could have just photographed the list but a camera was one thing none of them had thought to need on this job and, having no contact with the Underground, they didn’t have time enough for Goniff to acquire one.

Putting the wishful thought to one side, Garrison left his room and made his way downstairs, hoping that Farrar would be unoccupied.  He went to the bar first and ordered a bottle of  vodka and a couple of glasses, ostensibly his reason for leaving his client and coming down again, and then looked about for Farrar.  He spotted him chatting to one of the Germans who had come in with Juskiewicz in the doorway of the card room.  Their eyes met across the crowd and, as Farrar excused himself to cross to the bar, Garrison found himself wondering whether it was the same German who had been talking about him earlier.  Giving himself a reason to prop the bar up for a moment longer, Garrison poured himself a drink from his newly arrived bottle and sipped at it slowly, relishing the fiery warmth as it went down.

“Schnapps.”

Garrison waited until the barman had moved away before leaning on the counter beside Farrar. “We’re going to break into Juskiewicz’s safe,” he murmured.  “Can you keep him busy for half an hour?”  He hated having to ask that of his friend but he couldn’t risk being discovered.

Farrar nodded imperceptibly.  “And then?”

Garrison considered for a second.  “We get out of here.  I’ll send Actor to get you.”

“I bet he’ll just love that,”  Farrar said with a wry glint in his eyes.  “You know that he’s in love with you, of course?” he added casually.  The barman came back with the schnapps before Garrison could frame an answer and Farrar moved off with only a muttered, “Take care.”

Garrison followed suit, catching up the bottle and glasses as he went, threading his way through the crowded room and up the stairs to his room, his mind going over what Farrar had said rather than the mission.  He hadn’t sounded disapproving and that thought warmed Garrison.  If Farrar, who had more cause than anyone to disapprove, didn’t mind then perhaps a relationship between them could work.

Lost in pleasant fantasies, Garrison was startled when the door opened after a faint knock.  He was more on edge than he thought, he realised, slipping the flick knife back into it’s wrist sheath as Actor slid into the room followed by the other Gorillas.  “Any trouble?”  he asked.  Actor shook his head and then shared a grin with Garrison as both Casino and Goniff stared wide‑eyed around the opulent room.

“Blimey, Warden, if this is how they treat you here, I think I’ll give up stealing,” Goniff quipped.

Garrison smiled, glad to see the irrepressible little thief.  “I wouldn’t bother if I were you, Goniff.  All this luxury is over‑rated and they make you work for it, too,” he joked, not really thinking how it sounded until he caught Chief’s startled look and read the concern there.  “Or so they tell me,” he added hastily and saw the three of them relax.  “Did Actor brief you?”  He brought all of their minds back to the mission.

“Yeah, you want to have a look in the safe,” Casino reported.  “Knew you wouldn’t be able to resist it for long,” he added with a smug grin.

“That’s right,”  Garrison agreed.  “And we’ve only got twenty minutes clear so I hope you can open it damn quick.  Let’s go.”

He led them downstairs to Juskiewicz’s office, luckily not meeting anyone on the way and watched with admiration as Casino picked the lock in a fraction of the time it had taken him.  In contrast to the rest of the building, the office was plainly furnished, the big oak desk dominating the room, though a door to one side did lead into a bedroom much the same as Garrison’s  albeit considerably larger.

“Chief, keep a look out,” he ordered and the Indian took up his usual station just outside the door.  “Can you open it?”  he asked Casino, seeing that the safecracker had already found the safe behind the truly hideous portrait above the desk.

“Piece of cake,”  Casino answered, already twiddling the dial, Goniff peering curiously over his shoulder as usual.

Leaving him to it, Garrison drew Actor to the other side of the room.  “Farrar’s going to keep Juskiewicz busy downstairs until we’re finished here, then you’ll have to go down and get him out of there.  He’ll be coming out with us.”

Actor nodded in agreement, unable to conceal the dismay he felt completely from Garrison’s perceptive gaze.  He didn’t mind rescuing the man but he had hoped that once Garrison’s part in the brothel was done, they could then leave the Englishman to find his own way back home.  He didn’t know if he could stand seeing Garrison and Farrar together much longer.

Garrison read the dismay and, remembering Farrar’s parting words, came to a decision.  With one eye on the two men by the safe, he murmured,  “When we get home we’ll talk.”  He willed the other man to understand what he couldn’t yet put into words..

Actor’s face clouded in confusion for a second and then he caught his breath as understanding dawned.  “Warden...” he began, a smile tugging at his lips as his hopes soared but Garrison cut him off. “Later,” he promised, allowing a little of his own feelings to show and then moved over to stand behind Casino.  “How’s it going?”

“Almost there, baby,” the safecracker told him, concentrating hard.  He turned the dial one more time and then stood back, pulling the door open.  “There, all yours, lieutenant.”

Garrison pulled out a handful of papers and rifled through them.  Most of them pertained to the brothel, although a couple detailed various business transactions and then, right at the bottom of the pile, was a plain brown envelope.  Peering inside, Garrison found the list.  “Got it,” he said, giving Casino the rest of the papers to put back in the safe.

“Someone’s coming!”  Chief’s warning reached them just as Casino replaced the painting.

“Damn!”  Garrison swore, hustling them all out of the room, eyes darting up and down the darkened corridor searching for a way out.  “Quick, upstairs,” he ordered Casino and Goniff.  “Down the back stairs.  Chief,” he called, thrusting the envelope into the Indian’s hands.  “Get this back to the safehouse and wait for us there.  We’ll try to buy you some time.  Go!” he added urgently as the Indian seemed reluctant to leave.  “Actor...”

Whatever Garrison was going to say was cut off abruptly as the conman smoothly pinned him to the wall, silencing him with his mouth.  For a bare moment Garrison froze, surprised by the move, then he leant into the kiss, arms going around Actor’s back to pull him closer, savouring the feel of the hard body pressed against his.

“What are you doing here?”  Garrison jumped, so engrossed in the kiss that the harsh voice startled him.  His swift glance took in Juskiewicz and the two Germans and then focused on Farrar.  The Englishman’s face was shuttered but Garrison knew him well enough to read the tension in his eyes. 

Actor pulled away leisurely.  “Pardon me?” he asked, casually placing himself between Garrison and Juskiewicz.

“I said, what are you doing here?”  Juskiewicz repeated in Polish accented German.

Actor looked at him, brows raised, his gaze just short of insolence as though to imply that the other man was a fool if he had to ask.  “Waiting,” he finally said, casting a look over Juskiewicz’s shoulder and meeting Farrar’s eyes.  Although he couldn’t read the major as well as Garrison, Actor nevertheless sized up the situation accurately.  “Waiting for...”  He stopped, realising that he didn’t know what name Farrar was using and then continued, the hesitation almost imperceptible, as Garrison murmured in his ear.  “my friend, Vasilly here.”

“Oh?”  The Pole’s questioning glance raked up and down Garrison as he stood close behind Actor’s shoulder.

Actor showed his teeth in an insincere smile.  “I like to share with my friends.  Especially when the pickings are so very supple and willing...” The conman’s voice tailed away into a smug smile that threatened to turn into a real one as he felt Garrison’s fingers dig into his back.  “Vasya, shall we go?”

“We have business to discuss.”

Actor’s gaze moved from the German’s face, to his hand on Farrar’s sleeve, to Farrar’s face and back again leisurely, his expression leaving no-one in any doubt that he had guessed the type of business the other man wanted to ‘discuss’ with Farrar.  He shrugged eloquently.  “Please, don’t let me stop you.  I am more than happy to entertain Karel by myself...”  his voice trailed away suggestively and he looked at Farrar with a smirk, silently willing the other man to recognise his cue.

Farrar stiffened, chin raised haughtily and shook off the restraining hand.  “Ah, but you promised that this time we would share him!” he exclaimed, a deliberate pout almost sounding in his voice.  “Surely our business can wait an hour?” he appealed to the German.

The German looked set to argue but Juskiewicz moved forward and touched his arm, shaking his head as the man looked around.  Catching the look that passed between the two men, Garrison breathed a sigh of relief.  Perhaps they would get out of this without trouble after all.

“Very well,”  the man conceded shortly. 

“In that case, if you’ll excuse us, gentlemen...”  Actor gestured for the Garrison and Farrar to precede him down the corridor.

Garrison took a step and then froze as he realised that they couldn’t allow Juskiewicz to reach his office.  As soon as he realised that the door was unlocked, he would know someone had been in there and they would be the obvious culprits.

“No.”  Garrison felt Actor tense beside him as the knowledge hit the conman in the same instant.  Their eyes met for a bare moment, wordless communication passing between them just as efficiently as ever despite their current differences but then Garrison’s attention was caught by the quick flash of suspicion on Juskiewicz’s face and suddenly there was a knife in the Pole’s hand.  Without conscious thought Garrison moved forward as Actor leapt back to avoid the blade and grabbed at Juskiewicz’s wrist, using his greater height to slam the older man against the wall in an effort to disarm him.  He was dimly aware of the fact that both the  Germans had joined the fray and that one of them had a gun but his attention was pulled away as Juskiewicz struggled in his grip, forcing Garrison to twist away sharply to avoid a knee in the groin.  Despite his unprepossessing looks, the older man was surprisingly strong, pushing Garrison away almost easily and then, as soon as his hand was free, lashing out with the knife.

 Garrison stumbled back, feeling the sudden burning in his shoulder and the telltale wetness running down his chest.  Knowing that he had no time to spare for the wound, he charged forward again, the momentum this time taking them both to the floor where they grappled for possession of the blade.  Knowing that he had to disable Juskiewicz fast before the wound in his own shoulder weakened him too much, Garrison reverted to street brawling and bit down hard on the other man’s wrist, worrying at it despite the blows he could feel raining down on his unprotected back and face until Juskiewicz’s fingers finally opened and the knife dropped nervelessly from his hand.  Without hesitation Garrison grabbed it and thrust it home under the Pole’s ribs, ignoring his dying convulsions as the pain from his shoulder suddenly made itself known and he slumped on hands and knees, trying to get his harsh breathing under control.

He jumped as a hand dropped on his shoulder, spinning clumsily to meet the new threat, bloody knife in hand.

“Warden!”  Chief made a grab for Garrison, steadying him as he climbed shakily to his feet and looked around the corridor.  Both the Germans were dead, too, their necks obviously broken.  Garrison’s look took in Actor and Farrar, his anxious gaze only relaxing as he saw that, although a little battered, neither were hurt.  His glance returned to Chief.

“I though I told you to get back to the safehouse,” he said accusingly.

The Indian shrugged.  “Heard the fight,” he said shortly as though it explained everything, as perhaps for him it did.  Chief never turned his back on a fight, especially if any of the Gorillas were involved.  “You’re hurt,” he continued, seeing the blood soaking Garrison’s shoulder.

Hearing Chief’s exclamation, Actor moved across to Garrison’s side, leaving Farrar to rifle the dead men’s pockets for any papers.  “Let me have a look,” he commanded, reaching to pull the material of the tunic away from the wound.

Garrison pushed his hand away.  “It’s alright,” he said sharply.  “We don’t have time to worry about it now.  We need to get the bodies hidden first.  Anything?”  he added as Farrar stood up.  The major shook his head.

“Here.”  Actor held out one of his pristine white handkerchiefs.  “Try to slow down the bleeding while we clear up here.”

Garrison took it and held it as hard as he dared against his shoulder.  The wound wasn’t particularly serious, having somehow miraculously missed his lung but it was nevertheless both painful and bleeding freely.  “Dump them in here,” he ordered, pushing open the door to Juskiewicz’s office and watched as the three men dragged the bodies inside, hiding them from casual view behind the big desk.

“What about the door?”  Farrar queried as he closed it behind them.

"We’ll just have to take the chance that they don’t find the bodies until we’re out of the area.”

“How are we going to get out?”  Chief asked worriedly, keeping a sharp look‑out for more trouble as the four of them made their  way up to the next floor and their only route out of the brothel, the back staircase.

The streets were mercifully deserted as they made their way carefully back to the safehouse where Goniff and Casino were waiting anxiously.  Chief answered their questions as Garrison flicked though the sheaf of papers the safecracker handed him.

“Well?”  Farrar asked, sitting down at the table beside him.

“Good,”  Garrison confirmed with a nod and a wan smile, allowing the hovering Actor to examine his shoulder once more.  “These need to get to Intelligence as soon as possible.”

“So how are we going to get out?”  Chief repeated the question he had asked earlier.

“We’re going to have to make a run for the coast and find somewhere to hide out until pick‑up time,”  Garrison answered.

“Which is?”  Actor asked with a frown, tying off the makeshift bandage he had put around Garrison’s shoulder.

Garrison tried to shrug, glad of Actor’s supportive hand as the world tilted around him momentarily.  “Friday night,” he finally managed.

The conman’s frown deepened and he shook his head decisively.  Three days was too long.  “You should be in a hospital.”

“It’s not that serious,”  Garrison lied through gritted teeth.

“Bullshit, baby,”  Casino told him succinctly.

Farrar choked back a laugh at the look on the lieutenant’s face.  “He’s right, Craig.  We won’t make it to the coast with you in that condition.”

“So where?”  he asked the Englishman sharply.

“We’re going to have to run for the Allied lines.  The Russian lines,” Farrar clarified.

They all saw Garrison tense.

“Craig, I know you don’t want anything to do with them but it’s our only chance to get out of here.”  The major’s voice was low, almost pleading and Actor felt the now familiar hostility run through him at yet another reminder of how close the two men were.

“Why not, Warden?”

Garrison ignored Goniff’s question, locked in a private battle of wills with Farrar.  After an endless moment he conceded.  “Alright but I want out as soon as possible.  Actor?”  He twisted round to look up at the conman.  “We need a way out of the city.”

Actor flickered him a smile, absurdly warmed by the fact that Garrison had turned to him rather than Farrar.  “What we need is a con to get us past the checkpoints,” he mused to himself and then his gaze sharpened.  “What papers are you carrying?”

“German, Polish and Russian.  Will they do?”  Garrison asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Very nicely.  Why don’t you get some rest,” Actor suggested.  “We can’t move out until the curfew is lifted anyway.  Chief, Casino,” he continued.  “We’ll need some transport, something big enough for all of us...”

 * * *

Garrison released the taut breath he hadn’t realised he was holding as they left Krakow behind them and tried to relax into the pain from his shoulder.  He met Farrar’s eyes across the back of the truck and they shared a faint grin as the Englishman noticeably relaxed, too.  The con, one they had successfully used  before, had gone according to plan for once, Actor’s smooth tongue and Farrar’s chilling impression of a high level interrogator, not to mention his own pale suffering, carrying the day easily.  This close to the Russian front, the German checkpoint guards had been only too glad to wave their truck through at first light under the mistaken impression that the SS were taking a Russian spy back to the Fatherland for further questioning.

Despite their successful escape from the city, however, Garrison was still troubled.  Bothered both by their destination and the unresolved feeling between himself and Actor.  Their destination he could do nothing about ‑ he had been hurt often enough before to know that he did need medical attention soon, much as he disliked being beholden to the Russians.  For the most part he considered himself to be an open‑minded, unprejudiced man but his distrust of the Communist regime sprang from his earliest childhood.  He’d been just five years old when his family had been forced to flee Russia, one step ahead of the Bolsheviks but the memories of that bitter winter were still vivid in his mind when he allowed them to surface.  They had been lucky compared to many; his foster‑father, an intelligence officer in the Imperial army, had seen the revolution coming and made plans, ensuring a comfortable life for his family abroad but Garrison still couldn’t get past the instinctive hatred he felt towards the Communists who had hounded them out.  Garrison only hoped that they would get away from the Russians before he did something they would all regret.

His second concern was his relationship with Actor.  He and the conman had settled something between them last night, acknowledging, albeit obliquely, that the attraction was they felt between them was mutual but Garrison wasn’t sure of the next step.  If it had just been lust he would have known what to do, he was no stranger to the act itself but it was more than that.  He was in love with the conman and that meant sharing who and what he was, letting down the barriers to the man that only his closest family knew about.  He was afraid to let Actor see that man, afraid of the disillusionment when he discovered that Garrison was as much a fraud as he was. For all his doubts, however, Garrison knew that if the other man pushed the issue then he would gladly give into what they both wanted and to hell with the consequences.  If nothing else, life had taught him to grab whatever happiness came his way with both hands.  The question remained whether he was worth the risk for Actor.  Whether a relationship that could never be acknowledged in public, by look or word or deed, would be enough for the outgoing conman.  Whether Garrison was enough to risk prison for again.

With more questions than he could answer, Garrison allowed his eyes to close and eventually slipped into a restless, semi‑conscious doze.

He awoke briefly several hours later as the truck came to an abrupt stop, his shoulder coming into painful contact with the side.  When his head cleared he looked up blearily to find that Chief had taken Farrar’s place on the seat next to him.

“What’s happening?”  he mumbled woollily, worry gnawing through him.

Chief put out a hand to restrain him as he tried to get up.  “Don’t worry.  We’ll be reaching the front soon.  The major and Actor are up front ditching the Kraut uniforms.”

For a brief moment Garrison worried over the fact that Farrar and Actor were alone together but then dismissed his fears.  They might have their differences but both of them were sensible enough to put them aside until they were all safely home.  He slid back into sleep, reassured by the rumble of voices he could  hear from the front of the truck before the engine drowned them out again.

Handling the big truck with easy confidence, Farrar peered sideways at the man sitting beside him, hiding a grin at Actor’s stony silence.  Now that they were almost out of danger the conman’s mask of urbane affability had slipped and Farrar could read his emotions all too clearly.  He had known for months now that Garrison was in love with Actor but until last night he hadn’t known what the conman felt.  Now it was obvious.

“He’s the faithful type, you know,” he said casually into the silence.

“What?”  Actor was taken aback by the sudden utterance.

“Craig.  He’s the faithful type,” Farrar repeated, fighting the urge to smile at the look on the other man’s face.  “That’s why it was never going to be serious between us.  Because I’m not.”

Actor swivelled to look at him properly.  “Oh?”  he said, hoping that he didn’t sound as dumbstruck as he felt.

Farrar cast a smile in his direction before concentrating on the road again.  There was something very satisfying about dumbfounding the normally unflappable Italian.  “Yes, so you’d better think about that before you get involved with him because I’d hate to see him hurt.”

“Like you hurt him?”  Actor shot back, a surge of jealousy coming to the fore once again.

“It was never like that between us.”

“Really?”  Actor’s tone bordered on sarcasm.

“Actor,”  Farrar explained patiently.  “Craig and I have been friends a long time and we’ve got together occasionally but neither of us had any illusions that it meant anything beyond that.  Craig doesn’t give his heart lightly.”

Actor was startled by the very casualness of the explanation.

“That’s why you could really hurt him if you don’t feel the same way.”

“Are you sure?”

"You do love him, don’t you?” he checked.

Actor was silent for a long moment.  “Yes, I do,” he finally admitted.  “I’m like you ‑ never been faithful to anyone for long.  Never wanted to be.  But for him...  For him I could be,”  he told Farrar quietly.  “He makes me feel alive.  Like a good con does,” he quipped, uneasy at showing his feelings so openly.

Farrar read the sincerity in his voice.  “I’m glad because he needs someone to lean on, to trust.  Someone he can just be himself with.  Especially now that I’ve taken Alec away from him,” he added mischievously, as uneasy as Actor at the emotions flowing.  “Didn’t he tell you?”  he added innocently.  “I left him for his brother again months ago.  Never could make up my mind between the two of them.”

Actor stared at him open‑mouthed for a moment and then let out a breath of incredulous laughter.  “You are something else, my friend,” he decided with a shake of his head.

 “Yes, I am,”  Farrar agreed.  “And Craig knows it, always has.  But seriously, Actor, look after him.  Don’t let him push you away; he’ll probably try.  He always does if anyone starts getting too close.  Just make him happy.  Hey,” he added, catching Actor’s strange look.  “Just because we split up, it doesn’t mean I don’t still care about him.  Craig’s my cousin and I’ll always love him.”

“Cousin?”  Actor repeated blankly.

Farrar laughed.  “Ask him about our family and if he tells you, you’ll know that he’s yours.  I would say get him to give up the intelligence game but I don’t think there’s much point.  He lives for a good con as much as you do!”

“I know,”  Actor said ruefully and they shared a smile.  Garrison was in good hands again.

End…

(revised 7/06)


End file.
